Friday is here and the weekend is upon us! What does it have in store for you?

Psychology Today has an excellent article in this months issue as to how the pleasure we obtain from eating can actually affect the nutritional value of food. “The greater the pleasure, the more nutrients are absorbed.” That’s great news for me because I make a point of enjoying every bite that passes my lips!
“Food is one of the few things we partake of routinely that can please all of our senses at once.” That is, if we slow down enought and take more than 5 minutes to eat a meal!
It highlights how the enjoyment of food “brings with it a host of physical and mental benefits. Reasearchers find that pleasure stimulates an array of physiological processes directly affecting neuroendocrine, inflammatory, immunological, and cardiovascular systems. It lowers output of the stress homone cortisol, dampening responses to acute stressors and mini vessels, decreases blood pressure, and reduces load on the heart.” Simply put, it is “an important predictor of health and longevity.” “The greater the pleasure, the greater the absorption of key nutrients, such as iron.”

So get together with your friends and family, cook up a fabulous meal, sit back and enjoy every morsel. Keep in mind how you eat your food, not just what you are eating. It’s good for your health!

Pick up an this months issue of Psycology Today and have a read of this ‘pleasurable’ article!

Bon Apetit!